Kathy Sutcliffe

Kathy Sutcliffe lives in Rotorua, in the central North Island of New Zealand. She is a primary school teacher and teaches year 7 and 8 pupils who are having difficulty with their reading and writing. Kathy also has four children of her own.

Kathy says, "I have always wanted to write and now that my children are all growing up I have more time to let the creativity just flow. For years I have had stories and characters bouncing around in my head and finally I can let them out to do there thing on paper. I am a great thief. I listen avidly to local news and gleen ideas for stories wherever I can. All my stories have some real events in them, either things that have happened to me, or others in the community. I also use people I know because I know so many amazing people I don't need to make characters up. My first book, "Write My Face," features my daughter, Rachel, as she was at eighteen. She had no idea I was writing, or that she was in the book and when I sent her a copy she got the shock of her life and sat up all night reading it."

Look out for Kathy's first novel, "Write My Face," about a teacher who meets up with a former pupil and things get rather steamy.

Kathy's second novel, "When Romoeo Kissed Mercutio," will be out in November, and is about a same-sex relatioship between two young men.